Between the 1950s and 1990s, an estimated 45,000-plus Chilean children were illegally adopted abroad. Photo by cat6719/Pixabay
Oct. 9 (UPI) -- After 46 years of searching, 64-year-old María Soto was reunited with her twin daughters, María Laura and Valeska, who were given up for adoption without her consent in 1979 when they were 8 months old.
Because of their low weight, the girls had been admitted to a state institution. But when Soto went to retrieve them, she was told her daughters had been adopted by an Italian couple.
The case became public a few weeks ago, highlighting the work of the Hijos y Madres del Silencio Foundation (Children and Mothers of Silence), which searches for Chilean children who were illegally taken. The twins are numbers 319 and 320 of children the Foundation has successfully reunited with their families.
They were able to reunite thanks to the efforts of one of Soto's Italian grandsons, who knew his mother had been born in Chile. He sought help from Hijos y Madres del Silencio, which then contacted Soto.
